Most memorable calling experience.

[ohlongarmisle]

Was calling in Pole Bridge for wolves, 40 acres plus against Glacier, 12 foot high blind, had my 270, no wolves but called in a massive grizzly, 50 yards , he made me as you'll see in the video,after a short time he wandered off,I'm confident had he tried to get at me i'd shot him dead with the 270. Thankfully not. this is a zip file should open.

 

[DSheetz]

For me my most memorable calling experience was on the 4th of July 1986. It was early morning, and I made my first stand overlooking a large willow choked drainage with some beaver ponds in the bottom of it. As I finished my first series of injured rabbit calls on my circie hand call I saw movement in the willows, a large dark brown animal was moving toward me. Having seen a large black bear in the area the week before I figured that I had it coming my way. I slowly turned to get a better view of it and with a good amount of relief found that it was a young bull moose. The rancher and game warden told me I was full of it there weren't any moose in the area. So, I went and got my camera and took pictures of it when I called it in the second time. Later that fall a hunter from Iowa killed it and left it laying. He left a custom arrow in it that had serial numbers on it, so he and his two hunting partners were tracked down, they confessed to doing it and he lost his hunting privileges in Wyoming for life his buddies lost their privileges for five years. He also paid restitution for the animal and fines for taking an animal in a closed area and wasting of game animals.

 

[Orange Dust]

This has been years ago when the Game and Fish flatly denied Mt Lions existed in the wild in Arkansas. I was hunting in a box stand with my youngest daughter. Since I wasn't allowed to shoot a deer when with her (those were hers) I developed the habit of hunting Bobcats with my .17 Remington while she was deer hunting with me. I would just quietly play Goldfinch distress while she deer hunted. Called up several Bobcats and a few Bucks over time. Anyway, it was the last afternoon of the season. Almost time to leave. She said play the Mt lion. I told her it would run every deer out of the County, but she insisted. It was getting dark now, so I said ok. I put the thing on mute, turned the volume up and cut loose with a Mt Lion in heat squall. Them muted again. One answered from about 40yds away. We both freaked. We saw him in a pine thicket, but he never came out in the open. Now it is pitch black dark, and she won't get out of the stand. The 4-wheeler is parked at the base of the stand, but she won't climb down. I tried coaxing, then starting the 4-wheeler and revving the engine, but no way. I told her "That thing's gone" but she didn't believe me. Wishing she hadn't seen it, I had to climb up there and carry her down. she was 12 at the time, and we still tease her about it. she's 29 now.

 

[blksno]

This video is 14 years old...so it's not the best quality. But this is my best calling experience.
Not only the fact that it was roughly 40 below...but the carnage that unfolded was amazing.

 

[ohlongarmisle]

Was calling in Pole Bridge for wolves, 40 acres plus against Glacier, 12 foot high blind, had my 270, no wolves but called in a massive grizzly, 50 yards , he made me as you'll see in the video,after a short time he wandered off,I'm confident had he tried to get at me i'd shot him dead with the 270. Thankfully not. this is a zip file should open.

If this didn't open I will post still pictures.

 

[TRnCO]

Been several years ago, but my first stand out using my new Lucky Duck Revolt, first stand of the season, first stand of the day and it went like this.
Snuck into my stand in the dark and got set up. I was sitting on top of a small rock outcropping over looking a drainage basin that is covered in sage brush. Waited for calling light and then started the stand with a series of female lone howls. Immidiately got a response from several coyotes in the immediate area. Not long after doing the series of howls I saw the first coyote coming. She checked up on her own at about 100 yards so I dropped her and then went into rabbit distress and soon after I saw #2 coming. Got it stopped and shot just in time to see #3 coming, and again, got it stopped and dropped just in time to see #4 coming. This one needed barks to get it stopped, but at about 50 yards, I got it shot and dropped. Then I switched the caller over to a pup distress and in short order I see #5 coming and once again, got it stopped and dropped.
Feeling pretty good about killing my first 5 pack and realizing my rifle was empty, I sat back thinking how great that stand was and what a way to start the season. For whatever reason, it didn't cross my mind to reload and call some more. Instead, I got up and headed out to start collecting coyotes to bring back to where I could drive in and pick'em up. Left my rifle at the call and went out and got the closest two coyotes and was dragging them back to the caller, when another coyote started howling right in the same drainage. Got back to the call and rifle, loaded two rounds and turned the call on with rabbit distress and here came #6 right in. Got it stopped and dropped and set my own personal best stand ever record.
And as good as that was, I drove to the rancher's house to tell him what I had pulled off and I was rewarded with a box full of beef. Yep, he invited me into his garage, found an empty card board box and went to his freezer and loaded me up with all kinds of beef including tender loin, multiple cuts of steak and several pounds of burger. Told me to keep after 'em.
I've killed multiple quads, but probably will never again kill another 6 pack.

 

[Terry Lightle]

Back in the early 70s first time calling by myself,called in a bobcat to 10 yards or so and missed him probably by 6 feet with a recurve bow and wood arrow.Can still remember every detail.I was addicted

 

[DSheetz]

In the late 90's I was working at finding a coyote den in some really rough draws, so I wanted to try and save myself a lot of walking and tracking by doing some calling into that area from a pinacol that was close to them. I hid my truck and walked around the base of it and got set up in the large boulders on the side facing the draws, waited and glassed the draws for several minutes. I let out a series of locator howls waited several minutes and did another series of locator howls and watched as a pair of coyotes popped out of a draw out several hundred yards in front of me at the same time above and behind me there was a low murmuring growl. Slowly and steadily, I turned toward the growling, setting on a large boulder was two bobcats. I knew where the coyotes were, and the cats were out of season I didn't want jumped so I left, went to my truck and went around to another set up closer to the den. That is probably the most nervous that I have ever been when calling, I have found sign of cats coming from behind me after I was done with my stand but that was the first and only time, they let me know they didn't want me in their area by growling at me.

 

[TRnCO]

Another time many moons ago, back when hand calls were still a thing, I was out calling one day and I heard estrus chirps off in the distance, in the next bowl over from me. I knew what that meant so I headed that way to try to sneak into the bowl to see if I could spot the pair. I would be facing west and the bowl had a rock rim all along the top of it. So as I came over the hill, I got in the shadows of the rock rim and slowly proceeded into the area and finally got my eye on one of the coyotes. Never could figure out where its mate was, but I knew it was close.
I got to a good vantage point, wind was almost zilch, and did some soft rabbit distress on my Tweety. Sure enough, the single that I could see was on her way. She started at about 500 yards and wasn't coming hard, but she was coming at a nice trot. Each time she would check up I'd give her just a little more calling. She got to about 200 yards when all of a sudden I see the shadow of a coyote go by behind/above me, on top of the rock rim that I was sitting below. I'm not sure how he didn't ever smell me, but shortly after going by me he bailed off the rocks and trotted right out infront of me, at about 30 yards and stopped. BANG.....got him and went to the call and did some pup distress and got the female to check up and dropped her at about 300 yards.
That was the first time that I had actually heard estrous chirps in the wild. I've only ever heard it twice since then.

 

[DSheetz]

I am sure that everyone of us that has called for any amount of time has had more than one or two memorable experiences while calling or being out to call. Some pleasurable, some kind of nerve-wracking experiences and some that just amaze us, and we can't hardly believe that really happened and we were the ones that experienced them. And we love every second of them.